Color/Appearance: Heartwood tends to be a reddish brown, which darkens with age. Sapwood is yellow in color, and tends to be thin.

Grain/Texture:Honey Mesquite has a medium to coarse texture and open pores, with a slight natural luster. Clear portions of the trunk tend to have straight or wavy grain: though knots, defects, and other irregularities are common.

Endgrain: Diffuse-porous (or semi-ring-porous); large pores in no specific arrangement, few to moderately numerous; solitary and radial multiples of 2-3; amber-colored deposits occasionally present; growth rings indistinct (or distinct due to marginal parenchyma); medium to large rays may be just barely visible without lens, normal spacing; parenchyma vasicentric, lozenge, and confluent.

Rot Resistance:Honey Mesquite is considered very durable regarding decay resistance.

Workability: Working properties are largely dictated by the quality of the wood itself. Mesquite that is clear and free from defects is easy to work with hand and machine tools, but irregular grain or knots can be challenging. Glues, turns, and finishes well.

Pricing/Availability: Mesquite only tends to be available in small sizes, or as large irregular slabs. Larger boards free from defects are uncommon. Prices for Honey Mesquite are in the upper range for a domestic hardwood.

Sustainability: This wood species is not listed in the CITES Appendices or on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Comments: Considered by some to be an invasive species, Mesquite is known to produce great firewood with a high thermal value. Honey Mesquite is prized by segmented woodturners and others for its exceptional stability. Honey Mesquite exhibits very little movement or expansion/contraction due to environmental changes in humidity.

7 Comments

These pictures don’t do Honey
Mesquite justice. It is an extremely beautiful wood with wild and
unpredictable grain patterns. It’s very hard and stable. Visit my
website to see some of the beauty of this hidden treasure. http://www.MesquiteTREE.org

These pictures don’t do Honey Mesquite justice. It is an extremely beautiful wood with wild and unpredictable grain patterns. It’s very hard and stable. Visit my website to see some of the beauty of this hidden treasure. http://www.MesquiteTREE.org